Symptoms of Multiple Accounts
It happens frequently that a person has two accounts in LinkedIn. It may have happened to you unknowingly or to another in your network. You can prevent this from happening, fix it, and can help a networked connection fix this by reading on and sharing this lesson.
Account Key - Your email address login
LinkedIn registers its members using an email address as the key for an account. Potentially each email address is a unique account, a unique person. You login to LinkedIn with your email address and your password.
How Multiple Accounts Happen
You become a member getting an invitation at work (me@work.com) and you accept the invitation and LinkedIn creates your account using your work email address as the key to your account. You continue to send and accept invitations using your work email address and your network grows. You have not updated your account with your other email addresses.
It's been months and you've been connecting with many via work, then you receive an invitation from a family member or friend who communicates with you via your personal (me@home.com) email address, the RoadRunner, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo or other email address you use for most of your personal email. LinkedIn does not know this email address. You've not registered it with them by adding it to your account, so... LinkedIn asks you to open a new account and they welcome you requesting your name, where you live (zip code), where you work, etc. You feel some deja vu and dismiss it completing the registration. Congratulations, you now have a second account! You're likely unaware and blissfully ignorant.
Do a search on your name using the People function. Specify the "location" as "located in or nearby" in the search window. Let's hope the results return just your one account, one identity.
After noting your second account deleted, add your other email addresses you use with some regularity to your account.
Additional Insights
Below you'll find insights and solutions that will assist you in resolving your LinkedIn challenges or will accelerate experiencing the benefits of social networking.
Crafting Your Profile
LinkedIn Profile and Google
Who to Invite - Processing Invitations
Groups & Their Benefits
Managing Email Addresses
Researching Companies
Sharing Your Status